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If you look at the Honda Goldwing 2018 model forward have offered automatic. I am not sure of the correct numbers but thinking it was close to 75% went auto. They say it’s much quicker and always has the right gear at the time. My next wing will be an automatic. I really like my auto slingshot and it doesn’t bother me to drive either. The stick will never compete with the auto. It’s glad to have a choice.
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yes... They could have reduced weight to allow this but would have needed to rework a good bit. The one area they added weight was the hood. The large structural plastic substructure with the injected plastic panels are far heavier than needed. Tooling cost was high but unit cost way lower than a lighter more expensive hood. That's just one area where manufacturing cost weighed in (see what I did there) with what could be untized elsewhere. So yes the weight was a driver for the Manual but only because of unit cost demanded it.
I was with the understanding that the 2016 or 2016.5 had several weight reducing modifications, one being the hood?
Bill
IIRC, the main redesign I seem to remember seeing involved how the rear frame was redone to use a lighter piece of metal to hold the mounting points for the swing-arm. See this thread - https://www.slingshotforums.co…ttery.159881/#post-789361, post #3 vs post # 15for a picture of the original design versus the redesigned part. I'm not sure how much weight may have been saved in the redesign, but when I first saw the change, I wasn't all that impressed. It may have been a money-saving manufacturing change as opposed to a weight reduction change. It would be interesting to know if it was a manufacturing process change or a weight reduction savings change.
Original design -
Redesigned component -
Weight reduction to me says
Fixing something that wasn’t broken
Cheaper parts quality wise
More expensive price wise
Sure we can do a carbon fiber light weight hood .... price tag $5000
I predict the original slingshots will be the most sought after....unless something really significant happens to make them obsolete....
Display MoreWeight reduction to me says
Fixing something that wasn’t broken
Cheaper parts quality wise
More expensive price wise
Sure we can do a carbon fiber light weight hood .... price tag $5000
I predict the original slingshots will be the most sought after....unless something really significant happens to make them obsolete....
What will make them obsolete is if Polaris pulls the plug on them like they did to Victory...
What will make them obsolete is if Polaris pulls the plug on them like they did to Victory...
Victory seemed to be a popular brand, maybe even more so than Indian. Of course, if Polaris has problems meeting the weight limit with an automatic transmission, they may just decide manual only sales no longer justify keeping the Slingshot in production. Manual purists need to remember that Polaris will probably sell more automatic trans Slingshot than manuals, just due to the American market and our preference for automatic transmissions.
BUT! You will also be changing the market if you go to an Automatic. Just Saying,
True, but I can't shift as fast as an automatic-equipped vehicle and I don't like losing, so... damned if I do and damned if I don't!
True, but I can't shift as fast as an automatic-equipped vehicle and I don't like losing, so... damned if I do and damned if I don't!
It is all about control
It is all about control
I will stick with the manual...
When I was a kid and I got my first motorcycle it never even crossed my mind that having to learn how to use a clutch and shift was a problem - it was just the way it was, an if I wanted to ride I had to learn. Same thing when I got my first car, it had a manual and if it was the car I was going to have then I had to learn - - - If people really want a slingshot then they can learn to shift, and if they dont want to learn I guess they can get something else - perhaps a Vanderhll
Its kind of funny, but when I went to get my slingshot it never even occurred to me to even ask if an automatic was an option - if it had been a car I probably would have, but not in something sold as a motorcycle
One of my Wife's US Air Force co-workers walked into a Toyota dealer and bought a manual transmission car. He learned to shift as he was driving it home.
One of my Wife's US Air Force co-workers walked into a Toyota dealer and bought a manual transmission car. He learned to shift as he was driving it home.
yep, thats how its done. When I got my first motorcycle my parents drove me to the Honda dealer after doing all of the paperwork and everything was done they said "see you at home" and they got and the car and left me there to figure out how to ride my new motorcycle home - - I had ridden mini bikes but never anything with a clutch only took a few tries and I was on my way
Like many of us in this age group, I don't ever remember 'learning' how to drive a clutch. As soon as I took an interest in cars and driving, probably around 14 or 15 yrs old, I would watch my parents and figure out everything they are doing. By the time I got behind the wheel I knew exactly what to do. The time spent on motorcycles and mini bikes taught the operation of a clutch and you just had to transfer this to your feet.
I don't really understand how someone can go through life and still say, 'I can't do that'. I've made a living doing things I don't know how to do. You'd think from the conversation that driving a clutch is as complicated as flying a helicopter which is MUCH more complicated and would probably take a long afternoon to master (that's a joke pilots - I know it would take 2 days).
Oh, I remember it well, where I would go fishing with my uncle in his 1963 Chevy pickup and 4-speed. We would head up along a stream where he would drop me off while he drove further down. I would fish down to where he parked the pickup and then drive it past him and we would do this most of the day. In the beginning there was quite a bit of bucking and killed engines, especially when crossing the creek where it crossed the road, but like mentioned previously, I learned quickly.
Though, then came "three on the tree" which was another learning curve until I figured out it was just like on the floor, only sideways!
Bill
I learned to drive at 12 on an old International Harvester farm truck. 58 model with "3 on the tree" and the trickiest clutch ever. If you could drive it, you could drive anything on the road. True statistic here- only 18% of drivers under the age of 32 can drive a manual transmission!!!!
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Though, then came "three on the tree" which was another learning curve until I figured out it was just like on the floor, only sideways!
Bill
My first car was a 73 Ford Maverick. Straight 6 with 'three on the tree' - after that, everything else was easy.
First farm truck was 4 on the floor, but my brother had a truck with 3 on the tree initially. Loved when that linkage started acting up and it got stuck in a gear 
